The fall of Seville

History always repeats itself with us, and unfortunately we are a nation that does not read history in order to benefit from it, and in the end we fall into the same mistakes of those who came before us. Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it, and unfortunately we repeat the mistakes of the past and ally with our enemies to destroy each other.

This is the story of the fall of Seville, which is a recurring example of the fall of the rest of the Andalusian cities, and unfortunately, it is a recurring example of our current reality.

The fall of Cordoba, the largest stronghold of Islam in Andalusia in 633 AH / 1236 AD, was the beginning of the end of the complete collapse of Andalusia. The people of Seville realized after the fall of the Almohads that they needed external protection after they failed to rely on themselves. They sent their allegiance to Prince Abu Zakariya al-Hafsi, the prince of the Hafsids in Tunisia, who had shone after the fall of the Almohads. However, the men sent by the Hafsid prince to Seville mistreated the people and showed corruption, so the people of Seville were forced to expel them and began to rely on themselves. They cancelled a humiliating treaty that had been concluded between them and the Christian King of Castile, Ferdinand III, and killed Ibn al-Jadd, the author of the project of the aforementioned treaty and the supporter of the policy of humiliating the Christians.
This was a harbinger of the beginning of the end for Seville, but they had lost external Islamic support and, by breaking the treaty, declared war on Castile, which their circumstances were not ripe for entering.
The year 644 AH / 1246 AD witnessed the beginning of the Christian movement against Seville. The Crusaders captured the garrison of Seville in this year, with the help of Ibn al-Ahmar, King of Granada, in accordance with his treaty with Ferdinand, whereby Ferdinand ceded Argona and sold al-Hajjar, the fortress of Jabir, and the lands of the Frantira. He acknowledged his obedience to the King of Castile and pledged to pay him an annual tribute of 150,000 maravedis, the Spanish currency, and to aid him in his wars against his Muslim enemies!!!
In the following year, 645 AH / 1247 AD, the Christian armies advanced once again to Seville, and succeeded in seizing dozens of Islamic cities thanks to the intervention of Ibn al-Ahmar. Seville was besieged and surrounded from all sides by Christian battalions, and by the battalion led by the Muslim Ibn al-Ahmar, all participating in displacing its people and crushing the call to Islam there. Perhaps the presence of an Islamic fighting banner that the besieged Muslims could see was the most severe blow that the weeping eyes and hearts of the valiant people of Seville received!!
The honorable people of Seville stood firm for about a year, repelling the Christian siege supported by Ibn al-Ahmar. They succeeded in ambushing the Christians more than once and defeating them more than once.
While they were under siege, they tried to seek help from Morocco, but to no avail. Meanwhile, aid continued to reach the Christians, until they succeeded in preventing supplies from reaching the Muslims besieged in Seville. Food supplies ran out, and the specter of hunger began to creep into the exhausted city!!
And it was God’s will, and the Muslims of Seville left their city according to the terms of the treaty in the year 647 AH / 1248 AD. They left, fleeing to other Islamic Spanish cities that soon fell!!

From the book "Unforgettable Countries" by Major Tamer Badr